Dalai Lama Cancels Prayers in India

Published 8:00 pm, Wednesday, January 23, 2002

The Dalai Lama fell ill again Thursday and postponed his teachings before tens of thousands of followers at Tibetan Buddhism's most sacred worship ceremony.

The Dalai Lama told the gathering that he would not be able to sustain the rituals, which require him to sit still for at least five hours.

"It will take some more time to recover fully," the Dalai Lama said, adding, "I still suffer from exhaustion and become tired very quickly."

He was making his first public appearance in days after resting due to exhaustion and stomach pain.

Waving and smiling, he had begun teaching the crowd in the morning, but left the venue within half an hour. Several lamas helped him to get down from the podium.

The spiritual leader at first looked healthy as he prayed and hummed with his followers from around the world in the religious hub of Gaya in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.

Hundreds of police and paramilitary troops silently watched the ceremonies in the town, 80 miles northeast of Patna, capital of Bihar. Authorities are on high alert against possible terrorist attacks.

The Dalai Lama was unable to lead the prayers for Kalchakra, or Wheel of Time, when the ceremonies began Monday, because he had been advised to rest for three days.

The secretary of the information department of the Tibetan government in exile, T. Samphel, later read out a statement by the Dalai Lama detailing some of his medical problems.

The Dalai Lama also said he was going to remain in Bodhgaya, the Buddhist complex, until the end of the Kalchakra ceremony, adding he would make brief appearances over the weekend if his health permitted.

Meanwhile, the Karmapa, 16-year-old Ugyen Thinley Dorje, arrived in Bodhgaya to take part in other rituals. He is likely to attend a mass prayer for the long life of the Dalai Lama on Jan. 30. The Dalai Lama and Karmapa are two of the three most revered figures in Tibetan Buddhism.

The Dalai Lama arrived in Bodhgaya on Thursday in a government helicopter after two days of treatment in a hotel for low blood pressure and gastroenteritis. After that, he was not seen in public until the Thursday morning ceremony.

The Dalai Lama had been resting at a Buddhist monastery in Bodhgaya, the complex of temples marking the site where Buddhists believe the founder of their religion, Gautama Siddhartha, received enlightenment and was known as the Buddha.

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The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 with thousands of supporters following a failed uprising against China. Since then, he has headed a government-in-exile in the northern Indian town of Dharmsala. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his nonviolent struggle against Chinese rule.